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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23662120">Tanks a lot</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsomniacTaurus/pseuds/InsomniacTaurus'>InsomniacTaurus</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Team Fortress 2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Little Mermaid Elements, M/M, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:47:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,888</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23662120</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsomniacTaurus/pseuds/InsomniacTaurus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Scout liked swimming, hell he likes any physical activity. Base ball, running, maybe football.</p><p>Which is why it's so strange that he's suddenly avoiding it like the plague.</p><p>Is he ok? Because it's starting to get a bit... Fishy...<br/>---------------<br/>It's not very often I see a mermaid AU for Tf2, but for the ones I do find I always enjoy reading them, so I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring and make my own fic! It's far from perfect but I hope you like reading it regardless.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Engineer/Spy (Team Fortress 2), Heavy/Medic (Team Fortress 2), Scout/Sniper (Team Fortress 2)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Tanks a lot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This chapter is a bit short, but that's mostly because I'm trying to get the ball rolling, I promise the next chapters will be longer</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Why are we here again?" Scout muttered as he followed his friend behind, groaning as he got hit by sticks, branches, and pinecones, and as the occasional bugs bit him, slapping his arms in hopes they'd get squished, making his skin turn red. Regretting his decision not wearing bug spray.</p><p>"Because" Sniper chuckled at Scout's predicament and annoyance "I thought you'd think this is cool." He grinned as he readjusted the bag he was carrying, with his rifle in the other arm, incase there were any BLUs that had also come into the woods fully armed</p><p>"What the hell is "This" you keep goin' on 'bout?"</p><p>"Just a little thing I found"</p><p>"Yeah good answer…"</p><p>"Well if I told ya it wouldn't be a surprise now would it mate?"</p><p>"..."</p><p>"Would it?"</p><p>"Nah, guess it wouldn't."</p><p>The Aussie made sure the Bostonian was behind him and wasn't getting lost in the woods behind their base.</p><p>They had just moved to a different location, it was in their contract, when a team has worked together for a certain amount of years, they are to be sent to a different location to fight against different teams at a similar level of skill. The RED team was nearing the end of their contract, ending in 3 or 4 months, conveniently as "Mann vs Machine" was nearing an end as well, fewer robots were attacking and being made, there were more breaks and cease fires, which gave the team of mercenaries more free time and chances to explore their area.</p><p>That's how Sniper had the time to find this place.</p><p>"Are we there yet?" Scout huffed</p><p>Sniper only shook his head at his lack of patience. "Almost, hold ya horses."</p><p>Once again Scout groaned, he had no idea how long they'd been walking for and just wanted to get to… where ever the fuck they were going… he could hear the hum of bugs, tweets of birds, and the rushing of… water… fucking water… oh dear god… don't get him wrong he didn't hate it, he loved it, but he just wasn't comfortable swimming in the presence of others. He loved getting the chance to show off, but the thought of having to change and be almost naked!? It made his skin crawl, he preferred the comfort of clothes. He loved his body, he just… wasn't sure if others would…</p><p>"Oi mate. You listenin'?"</p><p>That seemed to snap Scout out of his train of thought "Huh?"</p><p>"We're here." Sniper chuckled. Scout spacing out wasn't out of the norm, it happened frequently, the young man always seemed to be in his own little world.</p><p>Scout nodded, hoping that the little area didn't have water….</p><p>It had water…</p><p>Just Scout's fucking luck.</p><p>Why? Why? WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE WATER!?</p><p>The entire place was beautiful! He'd admit that right away, the waterfall and tiny, slowly flowing, clear blue lake, only made it more beautiful and more pleasant to look at, with the sun shining through the trees makes the glisten on the water dance. It was absolutely breathtaking…</p><p>"Pretty huh?"</p><p>Scout whipped his head over to the Australian "Yeah, real pretty…"</p><p>The assassin put down his gun and bag and began unpacking, blanket, containers, and… towels.</p><p>"Whaaat are the towels for?" Scout asked, a bit worried…</p><p>"Remember? I told you we were going swimming." Sniper continued to unpack.</p><p>Oh fuck… oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck…</p><p>"Oh! Right…" he laughed, a bit of nervousness prominent in his voice, but he's trying to mask it…</p><p>Sniper huffed "Bloody hell, you may as well keep your head in the clouds…" as he began taking off his shoes, socks, and shirt, the Australian never thought about taking a bathing suit… mostly because he never owned one and he had no need for one in the past, then dipped himself into the lake.</p><p>Of course the American slightly blushed, because this wouldn't be a proper Speeding Bullet fic without a blushy Scout now would it? But there's nothing wrong with a dude liking another dude's chest and muscles right? Right…!?</p><p>Despite his sliiightly visible feelings, Scout managed to hide it… Nobody knows how he just... did. Weather it Scout being an actually good emotion hider, or Sniper being an oblivious ass despite having a sharp eye.</p><p>Sniper just gave him a look of confusion, you may call him oblivious but… actually you're not wrong... "You alright there mate?"</p><p>"Yeah! Yeah I'm good… I'm good"</p><p>The Australian remained silent, but just muttered an "alright" as he dunked himself in. Causing Scout to step back, remaining on land. He wasn't taking off any article of clothing, no sir…. Except for his hat. He brought his knees to his chest and clung on to them, he wasn't going to budge into that water, no matter how much he was tempted, and by god how it tempted him, it begged him to dive in and let the water embrace him, just how it's supposed to be… the feeling knawed at him, it begged him, encouraged him, pleaded with him, did everything it could to get Scout into that water. He knew he shouldn't, he really shouldn't, he absolutely shouldn't, every inch of him was screaming "No!" But he remained tempted and on edge.</p><p>The Australian popped back up to the surface, his hat drooping and dripping from the water. "Oi, you comin' in?" He asked as he leaned on his elbows.</p><p>"Nah, I'm good…" the runner brushed off his buddy, waving a hand to dismiss him</p><p>"You don't look to good mate, somethin' botherin' ya?"</p><p>Scout scoffed, something bothering HIM!? Nah, he's been ridiculed by his entire team and THAT didn't take him down, why would WATER of all things bother him?... If only Sniper knew. "No! No, nothin' at all…"</p><p>"You sure? You ain't afraid of a little WATER are ya?" The assassin teased as he flicked water over to Scout, who immediately flinched.</p><p>"Snipes! C'mon! I'm not afraid of the water!" He wasn't, he really wasn't, it was what water could DO to him that frightened him…</p><p>All the Australian did was raise an eyebrow, sceptical of the land dweller.</p><p>"Prove it."</p><p>Scout looked up "Huh?"</p><p>"If you're not scared of the water, then prove it."</p><p>"Why should I?"</p><p>"You said you ain't scared, and I'd like to see some evidence."</p><p>Scout huffed and held his knees "Look, I ain't afraid of the water. Never was, never could be. I don't have to prove anything"</p><p>"Then what the hell are ya scared of?"</p><p>Scout let go of his knees and crossed them "Look, I ain't tellin' you shit."</p><p>Sniper huffed, but soon a lightbulb went off in his head as he took off his hat and lid it on the grass "Well can ya do somethin' for me mate?"</p><p>Scout looked up as he leaned over the water</p><p>The Bostonian felt a pair of warm, wet hands grab onto his bandaged wrists.</p><p>"Hold ya breath!"</p><p>And then KERPLOOSH! That was all Scout had heard before he was dragged in by Sniper, water flooded his ears, not bothering to hold his breath and began hyperventilating. His eyes became frantic, shocked by what had just happened and was in a frenzy trying to get out of Sniper's rough grasp.</p><p>Scout continued to breath quickly as the majority of his clothes vanished into thin air, leaving him with nothing but his ghas, dog tags, and… a gilled neck... while his legs quickly fused into each other and formed a long red scaled tail as his feet turned into flared fins and two more grew by his waist. His tail resembled something of a flying fish… only red.</p><p>Sniper let go of Scout, almost choking on the breath he was holding, witnessing everything in front of him. It was shocking to say the least, and terrifying at most.</p><p>The younger of the two continued to look terrified as he swam back up to the surface, the assassin following close behind, receiving a wet slap on the head by a fin when he was able to breathe again, it didn't hurt, but he was sure it was supposed to.</p><p>"WHAT THE HELL YOU ASSHOLE!?" The Bostonian shouted, sharp shark like teeth replaced his normal human ones. He just reached that point where he looked human and could definitely be confused for one, he just walked the thin line of not human. Everything from the waist up was human, from his slightly tanned skin, to his dark blonde almost light brown hair. Everything below on the other hand was anything but.</p><p>"Bloody hell, what just happened?" Sniper huffed, completely speechless, without another word to say. What was he even surprised by anymore.</p><p>Scout gripped his arms as his bandages became a bit loose from the sudden rush of water from earlier. One of the loose bandages revealed scales littering Scout's wrist and a tiny fin it was hiding.</p><p>"What does it look like happened!?" The mermaid continued his panicking.</p><p>"I don't know! Just calm down a bit mate!" Sniper put his hands back on Scout's arms, attempting to comfort him.</p><p>As if telling him to 'calm down' would actually get him to calm down.</p><p>Scout's face was a bit pale, still put on edge from the whole experience, his breathing was slowing down a tad, but it was still fast.</p><p>"Jesus Christ Snipes. Don't… ever do that, like, again!" the runner breathed, his heart still beated slowly.</p><p>That was all that came out of Scout's mouth for now as he pried himself onto the grass with his two remaining human limbs and rested on his back with his ruby red limb in the water, the Bostonian was slightly shaking a bit from the sudden event and trying to control his breathing. He knew this would happen, he knew it, he fucking knew it, he should have left as soon as Sniper got in the water, he should have gotten farther, he should have-</p><p>He honestly didn't know any more... What COULD he have done?</p><p>Scout just wanted to cry, but he couldn't, not in front of Sniper, not in front of anybody. He couldn't, he wouldn't, yet he was so close to the brink… his vision became blurred with tears. He knew they were about to fall, but he tried so hard to not let them.</p><p>He had been found out, and by the one person he didn't want to find out. He'd rather have SPY of all people find out… then again, the sneaky bastard might already know… he already knows his habit of leaving strange scales behind in the bathroom tub, who's to say he didn't try to find out the cause of that?</p><p>Yet he placed a hand on his chest and continued to breathe, he just wanted to curl up into a ball and bawl his eyes out, or pluck out every scale on his body to try and rid himself of this stupid tail… he's tried that the first time, all that happened was that they quickly grew back. No matter how hard he plucked at them, he didn't hurt himself, he never did. It was always the scales by his underbelly and as the caudal/pectoral fin/s began. The scales in the middle of his tail were tough and extremely difficult to get under his nail, unlike the other scales which were soft and delicate.</p><p>Scout waited for Sniper to scream, to give him a face of disgust, freak out and run back to the base to tell more people that would have the pleasure to gawk at him… yet it didn't come.</p><p>Instead the assassin stayed sitting.</p><p>"Mate…? You ok…?" He was keeping his tone of voice down, it was more calming, more sincere, and comforting to hear. He wasn't affected by the fact he'd completely changed.</p><p>"Fuck, who am I kidding, you're breathing like a fish out of-... Shit I don't know any better Analogies… sorry mate"</p><p>This brought a small chuckle out of Scout, it was clear the older man was trying to help, and Scout's breathing was slowly returning back to normal, but he was still weary.</p><p>"Ok, no more jokin'... Mate what the FUCK just happened!?"</p><p>Theeeeeerrrre it is…</p><p>Scout propped himself up on his shakey elbows and looked at the assassin "Ugh… it's kinda hard to explain…"</p><p>The assassin moved closer to the other man and put back on his hat "Just… explain it the best way you can."</p><p>Scout huffed "Look Snipes, I just- I don't know why this keeps happenin', it just... started one day."</p><p>That wasn't a lie, it started a few weeks ago, and ever since he's been swapping back and forth between human and… Mermaid? Merman? Was it merman? Yeah probably merman. He honestly didn't care which it was called, all he knows is that his situation is like walking into a little girl's dream and diving straight into his nightmare. There was nothing whimsical about this, there was nothing romantic or beautiful about this. This was just a walking nightmare.</p><p>The world isn't some magical, silly, adventure with people just falling in love with whatever looks vaguely human. It's a Grim fairytale.</p><p>"...And I can't make it stop." Scout continued, he felt himself choke on a sob he was trying so desperately to hold in. "I've tried literally EVERYTHING! Holding one of my legs up, drying myself, getting in water so much I get tired from… this!" He continued "I can't make it stop…"</p><p>There they go, the tears are falling into the river and splattering onto his tail, the tears felt like heaven on his slowly drying scales as the Bostonian clutches his fist trying to resist the urge to dive back into the water and stay until his tears ran out.</p><p>"Woah woah woah mate! It's ok we can-" the Australian stopped and lowered his voice "are you… crying…?"</p><p>"...Yeah..." What else was he supposed to say? No? It'd be pointless to say no.</p><p>Sniper grabbed Scout's hand and put another on his back, then brought the fish man into a hug "Geeze Roo… why didn't you tell any of us?" The Mermaid was shaking, barely holding himself together.</p><p>Scout just wrapped his arms around the assassin and just let himself go, the tears were slowly running out "You'd all think I'm crazy…" he quietly murmured as he felt a hand rub his back, soothing him quite a bit.</p><p>The answer got a chuckle out of Sniper, making the merman confused "What?" Scout asked, his voice a bit hoarse.</p><p>Sniper only continued to chuckle at Scout's confusion "Mate, you DO realize we've fought a headless horseless man, a wizard, various urban legends, an evil Santa, a GIANT bread monster made by Soldier, we both went to heaven and came back to life, and 7 out of 9 of us got our souls taken from our bodies…" he explained "A mermaid is the LEAST shocking thing we've ever encountered" Scout felt a hand on his face and a thumb wipe away the tears, for how rough and chaliced the hand felt, it was comforting and handled with a gentleness he couldn't understand.</p><p>Oh… yeah, that happened… Scout remembered those past events all too well, the bread fight was fun, albeit he found out his (use to be) crush was a lesbian, he still had fun and the two of them are still friends.</p><p>But is that why Sniper's not reacting with fear? Has he just seen so much he's desensitized to it all? Whatever it was, he was just happy there wasn't anymore screaming…</p><p>Scout just didn't care at this point as he just held onto Sniper as if the world would end if he didn't.</p><p>"Mate?"</p><p>"Just… shut up and hug me..."</p><p>…</p><p>"Alright." The assassin responded "If it makes you feel any better"</p><p>Scout felt a smile grow on his face as he melted into the taller man's arms, his pectoral and pelvic fins fluttered just like his heart. The silence was nice for a bit. He felt comfortable, happy… safe from all of the troubles in the world…</p><p>"Look mate, maybe we should talk about this later." Sniper suggested as he let go of Scout, the runner slowly doing the same, he was kinda touch starved but he nodded.</p><p>"Heh, yeah…" he slowly nodded as he wiped one last year away</p><p>"Later…"</p><hr/><p>Ever since, Scout's been growing a bit more comfortable around Sniper while in water, and they began hanging out a bit more at that little secret spot… which ment Scout spent a lot more time in the water, and that made him spend a bit more time as a Mermaid, though the transformations back slowly and steadily became painful and slower among other things.</p><p>Sniper had suggested one night while playing cards, was it poker? Slap jack? No matter what they were playing that night, the assassin said that maybe they should take a break from going to that spot over and over again and hang out in the base or his van, it was clearly beginning to hurt Scout whenever he got out of the water. The batter remained cocky as usual, brushing the matter off, if he could handle a few bullet wounds, who said he couldn't handle this?</p><p>He did. He said he couldn't handle it, not directly nor indirectly, his body kept aching, and bending in ways it shouldn't, it hurt him greatly the last time he transformed, it was extremely slow, took almost 5 minutes before he could walk and was fully clothed again…</p><p>Finally his body had had enough.</p><p>Strangely it wasn't at that beautiful spot in the woods.</p><p>Ever since he'd first shifted, he's always opted for taking baths, didn't want to risk falling on his ass and probably hurt a fin… or his ass, yeah his ass was probably more important. Soaking in the water and taking a few breaths of it, letting his tail rest on the wall, bath water wasn't as good or as clean as fresh water, but neither could compare to salt water. He had no idea how long he'd been in there for, that was until someone knocked on the door</p><p>"Scout will you get out already!? You've been in there for two hours, this is not needed."</p><p>Crap… it was spy…</p><p>Scout sat up and shouted back "Hold on Pops! Jesus…" he cursed "Just gimme a minute!" He shouted as he pulled the plug and lifted himself over the edge of the tub as it slowly drained, his side fins flapped in the air, not use to being in such a dry and unusual environment, as he dragged himself over the edge and grabbed a towel "Let's get this shit over with…" he muttered to himself as he dried off everything above the waist, then started rubbing the towel on his tail, knowing the eventual pain that was going to happen.</p><p>But it never came…</p><p>It usually came when his underbelly scales became a bit softer and even more delicate, but nothing about them changed. Nothing about HIM changed. "What the…?" He muttered as he looked at his scales, they didn't feel dry. They didn't flake when he scratched at them either, they seemed to be covered in a strange... slime? Paste? Moisture…? Yeah moisture, it wasn't sticky, it just kept his tail from drying, he rubbed the towel at it again and again, yet nothing changed, it was getting a bit more difficult to breathe as the anxiety began to settle in and made him panic, he kept rubbing his long red limb. Nothing came and he became frantic eventually he tried to move off from the edge of the tub, but he only ended up falling and hit his head on the corner of the sink, landing with a loud thud, and passed out on the cold floor</p><p>"Scout? Is everything ok in there? Scout…? Scout?! Scout, answer me! Jeremy!?"</p><p>Everything went black, he heard the call of his name, and that was it…</p><p>The next thing he knew?</p><p>He woke up underwater, rubbing his head, he had an absolutely terrible headache that just wouldn't go away, and when he felt his temple he felt… stitches?</p><p>Everything below him was glass, the walls were glass and it looked like a…</p><p>Oh God…</p><p>He was in a tank…</p><p>And one that he couldn't really swim around in, the only direction was up. So that's where he went. He'd assume it was around… 6 feet? Yeah, the tank was at least 6 feet tall.</p><p>He finally got a good look at where he was…</p><p>Medic's lab. The bunch of needles, pile of organs, and the lone Blu spy head smoking a cigarette really gave it away.</p><p>But what did that bastard do while he was out cold…?</p><p>"Oh good! You're awake! I was worried you were dead!... Well not really, I did plan on using your body for an autopsy, but plans change I suppose." There it is, the unmistakable German accent, and the coo of a blood stained dove followed afterwards. Sometimes you just need to speak, or in this case think, of the devil and he will come! "As exciting as it would most certainly be to figure out how Mermaids work and how they survive under the pressure of water, now's not the time for that nor is there time... Or is there...?"</p><p>He wasn't hearing that noise...</p><p>"Jesus fuck, Doc... Not right now" Scout groaned, stupid headache, it was killing him... "What happened? Why the hell am I in a tank? What's up with this stupid headache I got?"</p><p>The German rolled his eyes and pushed up his glasses "Yes yes, I'll get to it." He quickly got out a clipboard of notes "It appears that along with your... Fishyness, you've gotten a minor concussion, minor memory loss and a headache. It's nothing to worry about. You'll just have to take it easy for a while."</p><p>Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned on the tank's edge. Though he's not sure if it's actually "Minor" as the doctor says, since his definition of minor is a broken rib... But it doesn't SOUND to bad...</p><p>"Now about that autopsy..."</p><p>Jesus fucking Christ all mighty...</p><p>"No."</p><p>"But Scoooooooouuuut! This could be a scientific discovery!"</p><p>"But Meeeeeeedic I don't wanna get cut up."</p><p>And there he goes, the ex-doctor began explaining all the things he could do with the knowledge from the autopsy and how much chaos he could cause with it.</p><p>It's been said before and it will be said again, he's not hearing that noise.</p><p>Somebody just come in and stop this mad man that's known as a"Doctor"...</p><p>Scout began to grow tired of this man's rambling and looked around the room to see if he could spot anything that caught his interest, and there it was, a few of his other co-workers were standing by the door, a few taking turns looking through the window, some with shocked expressions, others he couldn't really tell, especially for pyro... they're just nothing but mumbles anyways.</p><p>Crap. This day couldn't get any worse...</p><p>Wait he shouldn't think stuff like that</p><p>He's seen the cartoons and movies</p><p>It always got worse when someone said that.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, thank you for making it to the end of this chapter, it's really appreciated! I'll be working on the next chapter as soon as I can, please be patient!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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